Heart Surgery News and Research

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Heart surgery is done to correct problems with the heart. More than half a million heart surgeries are done each year in the United States for a variety of heart problems. Heart surgery is used to correct heart problems in children and adults. This article discusses heart surgeries for adults. For more information about heart surgeries for children, see the Diseases and Conditions Index articles on congenital heart defects, holes in the heart, and tetralogy of Fallot.

The most common type of heart surgery for adults is coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). During CABG, surgeons use healthy arteries or veins taken from another part of the body to bypass (that is, go around) blocked arteries. CABG relieves chest pain and reduces the risk of heart attack.

Wide-scale study of flu vaccine's effectiveness in European children needed

A wide-scale study of the effectiveness of flu vaccine in children is needed in Europe to fully assess the benefits, not only in keeping the kids from getting sick, but limiting the spread of flu to adults.

4 Dec 2010

Cardiac surgeons are trying innovative approaches to traditional open heart surgery

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, cardiac surgeons are trying new innovative approaches to traditional open heart surgery as they try to make coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures less invasive where possible.

3 Dec 2010

New robotic arm device for early to mid-stage osteoarthritis

A robotic arm device developed to assist orthopedic surgeons with performing partial knee replacement surgery for early to mid-stage osteoarthritis is now available at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. The technology was approved by the FDA in 2005, and to date nearly 5,000 cases have been performed in the U.S.

3 Dec 2010

Loyola's mortality rate from heart-bypass surgery 74% lower than at peer hospitals

Loyola University Hospital's mortality rate from heart-bypass surgery is 74 percent lower than the mortality rate at peer hospitals, according to Thomson Reuters Cardiovascular Benchmarks Report.

1 Dec 2010

GFAP levels predict brain injury, death in critically ill children on ECMO

Johns Hopkins Children's Center scientists have discovered that high blood levels of a protein commonly found in the central nervous system can predict brain injury and death in critically ill children on a form of life support called extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation or ECMO.

23 Nov 2010

Doctors provide tips to protect children from seasonal flu

Doctors at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center want to make sure children are protected from influenza this flu season. The flu is an infection of the nose, throat and lungs caused by a variety of strains of influenza viruses. While the flu typically causes mild symptoms, it can be severe enough to cause hospitalization or even death. Flu most commonly occurs in the winter and early spring.

20 Nov 2010

Regado presents poster on REG3 at AHA Scientific Sessions meeting

Regado Biosciences, Inc., a privately held company leading the development of antithrombotic aptamers with active control agents, announced that Steven L. Zelenkofske, D.O., F.A.C.C., Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, and Chris Rusconi, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, presented a poster about REG3 at the AHA Scientific Sessions meeting.

18 Nov 2010

Cardiac surgery leads to stroke, seizure and neurological complications: Report

Strokes, seizures and other neurological complications related to heart surgery account for "considerable morbidity and mortality," Loyola University Health System neurologists report in the November issue of the journal Hospital Practice.

17 Nov 2010

Neurologic complications remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality after heart surgeries

16 Nov 2010

Obese children with congenital heart disease face risk of heart disease as adults

Children with congenital heart disease are more overweight than similar children a generation ago, raising their risk of heart attack and heart disease as adults, according to a new study.

15 Nov 2010

New type of heart pump for infants born with univentricular circulation

Researchers have created a new type of heart pump inserted with a catheter to improve the survival rate for infants undergoing a series of surgeries to correct a deadly birth defect.

10 Nov 2010

New techniques to stop ventricular arrhythmias in high-risk patients

New techniques now being used at UCLA allow doctors to more precisely target certain areas of the heart to stop ventricular arrhythmias — serious abnormal rhythms in the heart's lower chambers — in high-risk patients.

9 Nov 2010

Regado receives funding under QTDP grant program to advance treatment for cardiovascular diseases

Regado Biosciences, Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company leading the development of antithrombotic aptamers with matched active control agents, announced today that it has received funding from the United States government under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) grants program to advance the development of the company's three programs, REG1, REG2 and REG3.

4 Nov 2010

MiCardia receives European CE Mark approval for enCor Mitral Valve Repair System

MiCardia Corporation announced today that it has received the CE Mark to begin marketing the Company's enCor™ Mitral Valve Repair System in the European Union.

3 Nov 2010

JenaValve commences CE-Mark study for transapical TAVI system

JenaValve™ Technology, Inc., a medical device company specialized in developing transcatheter valve replacement products, announced today the start of its multicenter CE-mark study. The first two implantations of its transapical TAVI system were performed by Dr. med. Hendrik Treede at the Universitäres Herzzentrum Hamburg.

3 Nov 2010

Innovative lifesaving device for patients with advanced heart failure

Bradley Cantley, 41, headed home from UC San Diego Medical Center connected to a lifesaving heart machine called a left ventricular assisted device (LVAD). For patients with advanced heart failure, the mechanical pump rapidly improves circulation throughout the body and serves as a bridge to transplant. Cantley is the first of many patients, locally and globally, who will benefit from the expanded heart surgery program at UC San Diego Health System.

2 Nov 2010

Brigham and Women's, and UI Hospitals and Clinics begin certification for SynCardia artificial heart implantation

SynCardia Systems, Inc. announced today that Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and University of Iowa (UI) Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa, have begun certification to implant the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart. Brigham and Women's will complete Phase I of certification on Nov. 1 & 2, and UI Hospitals and Clinics completed Phase I on Oct. 21 & 22.

30 Oct 2010

OHSU to lead next phase of HuCNS-SC trial for NCL in children

Oregon Health & Science University Doernbecher Children's Hospital will lead the next phase of a landmark clinical trial to further assess the safety and preliminary effectiveness of purified human neural stem cells (HuCNS-SC-) as a potential treatment for infantile or late-infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL), a rare and currently fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects infants and children.

30 Oct 2010

StemCells initiates HuCNS-SC second clinical trial for Batten disease in children

StemCells, Inc. announced today that it has initiated a second clinical trial of its HuCNS-SC product candidate (purified human neural stem cells) in neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL, also often referred to as Batten disease), a fatal neurodegenerative disorder in children.

29 Oct 2010

Two-thirds of fetuses with HLHS have strong chance of survival

When prenatal diagnosis detects the severe heart defect hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) in a fetus, a comprehensive prenatal evaluation is important to provide parents an accurate prognosis. In HLHS, one of the heart's pumping chambers is severely underdeveloped. However, say researchers, in two-thirds of cases, reconstructive surgery affords the infant an excellent chance of early survival.

27 Oct 2010